KMOS on the Very Large Telescope at the time of first light

The KMOS instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. KMOS is unique as it will be able to observe not just one, but 24 objects at the same time in infrared light and to map out how their properties vary from place to place. It will provide crucial data to help understand how galaxies grew and evolved in the early Universe — and provide it much faster than has been possible up to now. KMOS was built by a consortium of universities and institutes in the United Kingdom and Germany in collaboration with ESO.

In this picture KMOS is the silver structure at the centre, with the VLT Unit Telescope 1 to the right. On the left the large silver cylinder supports the extensive KMOS electronics and allows them to rotate as the telescope moves across the sky.